Beer Bread

I love this bread during the holidays. It is great for cutting up into cubes and used with your favorite dips as an appetizer. It is a pretty hardy bread and won't break apart when dip is smeared all over it! My favorite is to dip this bad boy into spinach dip and eat it accompanied by a nice cold beer. Remember...if you wouldn't drink it, then don't bake with it. So you'll have to actually sacrifice one can of your favorite beer for this recipe, but it is well worth it!

Beer Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 can (12 ounces) of your favorite beer
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Grease an 8"x4" loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, salt and beer. Mix well (it easier if you let the beer foam subside then stir). Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes. At the last 3 minutes of baking, brush melted butter over the top of loaf and continue baking for the final 3 minutes.

Sticky Buns

I love the holiday season simply because it gives me the excuse to bake everything that is not good for me. Especially sticky buns. I NEVER make sticky buns unless winter and Christmas is close. Then I have an excuse to wear a ridiculously large sweater to cover up the sticky buns that have...well...stuck themselves directly to MY buns.

Mmm...see all that gorgeous caramel in the bottom of the pan? During the months of November and December only it is fat free caramel. Just pretend and when you consume half the pan you won't feel so bad!

One other great thing about sticky buns is when its freezing cold outside you have an excuse to run your oven half the day and heat up your kitchen. Then you should probably go and run your butt off on the treadmill because you are definitely going to need it!

Sticky Buns
slightly adapted from Cheeky Kitchen

Basic Roll Dough
2 cups warm water (115 degrees)

3 3/8 teaspoons yeast

1/2 cup sugar

3/8 cup eggs, beaten (its 1 1/2 eggs)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

5-6 cups all purpose flour

Sweet Roll Filling

4 tablespoons cinnamon

1 cup soft butter

2 cups brown sugar

Sticky Caramel Topping
1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup dark karo syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add warm water, yeast and sugar. Let set for 5-10 minutes until the yeast activates and forms a foam on top of the water. Add eggs, butter and salt and mix on low with the dough hook attachment about 2 minutes, until ingredients are combined. Add 5 cups of flour and mix on low about 5 minutes until dough becomes elastic and starts to clean away from side of the bowl. Add up to 1 additional cup of flour if needed. The dough is supposed to be light and slightly sticky. Oil a large glass bowl and place dough in bowl, turning so the greased side is up. Cover lightly with a layer of plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.

Stir ingredients for the filling together in a bowl until well combined. Roll dough out into a 9"x24" rectangle. It will end up roughly 3/4" thick. Using a rubber spatula, carefully spread filling over entire surface of dough and roll the long way into a log and pinch together the seam. Cut rolls 1" thick, so you get 24 rolls.

Now we need to prepare the sinfully delicious topping! In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium high heat until melted. Whisk in remaining ingredients and bring just to boiling. Remove from heat and pour into four 8" round cake pans.

Place 6 rolls into each pan on top of caramel sauce. Allow rolls to raise for about 30 minutes until they have not quite doubled in size. I usually raise them just until the rolls start to touch.

Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes just until rolls start to turn brown on the edges.

When you remove rolls from the oven, if you are going to serve them right away, place a plate on top of pan and quickly invert rolls onto the plate. The caramel is HOT so be careful! If you'd like to freeze them for later, I simply cover cake pans with 2 layers of tight tinfoil and freeze. To reheat, place rolls still covered in tinfoil in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes and invert onto a plate after removing from oven.

Enjoy, Enjoy, and then run on your treadmill. Then congratulate yourself for working out with another sticky bun. Repeat process until they're gone.

Orange Rolls

I spent the entire day Saturday in the kitchen with my mom. The weather has officially switched to winter. Its cold...and snowing...and cold...did I mention that already? I can't think of a better way to waste a weekend then by spending it in the kitchen with the woman that taught me to cook. There was flour everywhere. There was sugar everywhere. There were dirty dishes everywhere...anyone what to come over and wash them for me? No? I don't blame you...I don't want to wash them either!

Brown sugar, butter and orange zest...the thoughts of cold and snow are melting from my brain. All I can think about now is the sweet filling in these rolls!

Orange Rolls:

For the Rolls
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (.25 oz package)
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
zest of two oranges

For the Glaze:
3 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
juice of 1/2 orange
1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat milk and water in a sauce pan until mixture reaches 120 degrees. Pour milk and water into your stand mixer bowl with the dough hook attachment. Add sugar and yeast and put mixer on stir just so it make one loop around. Let mixture set about 5-8 minutes until it froths (yeast activating).
Add egg, butter, salt and flour and mix on low speed for roughly 5-8 minutes until dough becomes elastic and should start to pull away from side of the bowl. The dough will still be sticky.

Grease a large bowl. Add dough to bowl and turn dough over so the top is greased. Place dough in a warm draft free place to raise for roughly one hour until it has doubled in size. I like to turn the oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, turn oven off, then place bowl in the oven.

Meanwhile, make your filling by adding sugar, butter and zest into a small bowl and mashing together with a fork until mixture is well combined.

Punch down dough and place on your floured countertop. Roll dough into 24"x6" rectangle. Spread filling mix onto dough with a rubber spatula, making sure to cover the entire surface. Roll dough the long way into a log and pinch the seam together. Cut rolls 1" wide. Know what my mom just taught me? Slide a piece of dental floss under the dough, and cross over the top, pulling quickly. This will give you a nice clean cut without smooshing your rolls.

Place rolls on a baking sheet about 1/2" apart so they have room to raise. Cover with a dish towel and allow 45 minutes to raise. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until rolls are lightly browned on top. Allow rolls to completely cool.

For glaze, whisk together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, almond extract, orange juice and salt until icing is smooth and creamy. Top cooled rolls and ENJOY!

Whole Wheat Honey Buns

Our furnace motor went out...its cold in our house...and a new motor is on back order! That means my oven has been working overtime the last few nights, trying to keep the upstairs warm for the kids. We've made buns, pot roasts, casseroles, cheesecakes, and cinnamon rolls. Being cold isn't fun, but the food we've been enjoying since the furnace went out has been!

Whole Wheat Honey Buns

4 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and set aside.

In your mixer bowl, mix honey, melted butter, salt and 2 1/2 cups warm water until combined. Beat in 3 cups of whole wheat flour with your electric mixer (speed 2 on your KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment), about 3 minutes, being sure to scrape the sides of your bowl often. Mix in remaining 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and dissolved yeast until combined, about an additional 2 minutes. Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour and the oats and continue to mix until dough cleans away from side of bowl. If needed, add an additional 1/2 cup of flour.

Grease a large bowl and put dough into bowl, turning so that the top side of dough is greased to prevent drying. Over bowl with plastic wrap and a dish towl and place bowl in a dry, draft free and warm place for 45 to 60 minutes until size has doubled.

Lightly grease a large cookie sheet, and working with slightly floured hands, pull off a clump of dough a bit larger then a golf ball. Form a circle with your index finger and thumb and while using your opposite thumb, push dough through the circle. In essence pushing the dough into itself to form a solid ball. Place all buns on the greased cookie sheet about 1 1/2" apart. Again, cover buns with a dish towel and place in a warm place and allow to double in size, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water and lightly brush the top of buns. Bake approximately 20 minutes until tops are browned and buns should sound slightly hollow when tapped.

Allow to cool and Enjoy!!

Ciabatta Bread

You know those fall days that are cool enough to put you out of your comfort zone but not cold enough to force you to turn on the heat yet? We're smack dab in the middle of it and I have about 4 quilts on my bed. You know what else I do on days like these? Bake bread. Not only does your house smell delicious...but it gets nice and warm from the oven running too!

Ciabatta Bread
2 packages regular active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1 1/2 cup very warm water (115 to 120 degrees)
3 to 3 1/4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh Rosemary, chopped (if desired)

In a warmed mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand 5 minutes until yeast forms a foam on top of the water. Add 3 cups flour, salt and sugar. Mix on low speed (speed 2 on your KitchenAid) until flour and water are just combined. Stir in oil and mix on low again for about 3-4 minutes until dough cleans away from side of bowl. If needed, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. Dough should be slightly stick still but able to handle.
Form dough into a ball and place in greased bowl, turning dough so the topside is greased. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes until doubled in size. I usually heat my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then place dough inside oven and turn oven off.
Punch down dough and place on a floured surface. Divide dough in half and shape each have into a ball and let raise again until double.
Grease two cookie sheets with Pam. Stretch each ball of dough on individual cookie sheets into an 18 x 6 rectange by pulling edges away from each other. Dough should be roughly 1/2" thick. Using your fingers, make indents all over dough. Cover dough and again let rise about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly brush dough with and egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water wisked together.) Sprinkle chopped Rosemary over top (or desired herb). Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

I always like bread when its fresh out of the oven with butter!

Enjoy!

Buttered Rosemary Dinner Rolls

This is me baking. Days I block off just to bake usually involve yoga pants, oversized t-shirts and make-shift aprons (dish towels tied around my waist of course.) My hair is usually tied up in some sorts of bun and I'm always covered in flour and sugar. I love full baking days and the kitchen is usually completely destroyed and it takes me half the next day to clean it. But when you pull those fresh fragrant buns out of the oven it is so worth the 1" of flour I have to sweep up off my floor!





Buttered Rosemary Rolls

1 1/2 cups water, between 105-115 degrees
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a warmed glass bowl, add water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes until the foams forms a foam covering the water.

Add oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir to combine and add rest of flour, 1/2 cup at a time and stir. When dough comes together, turn onto a floured surface an knead for 8 to 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place in a lightly greased bowl and turn dough so top side is greased. Cover and allow to raise in a warm, draft free place. I usually turn the oven on 400 degrees for two minutes, then turn oven off and place the bowl in the oven. When dough has doubled in sized, punch down and remove from bowl.

Divide dough into 20 balls. Form buns by shaping your index and thumb into a circle. Place dough ball in circle and push opposite thumb through dough and circle...folding the dough into itself several time until a tight ball is formed. Place 2" apart on a lightly greased baking sheet and allow to double in size, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil tops of buns and sprinkle chopped fresh rosemary (or your favorite herb) on top of each bun and bake for 12-15 minutes or until buns are golden brown. Immediately put a pat of butter on top of each roll and enjoy fresh out of the oven!!!

Cilantro Cheddar Biscuits

The herbs are taking over! They are on the patio...in the garden...and landing in all of my food! And guess what? Life couldn't be better! Going out to my front porch and picking handfuls of fresh fragrant herbs to bring life to food we eat is the best part of the summer months. The cilantro seems to be growing rampant in this particular planter...it is taking over the poor rosemary and parsley it seems. I think I see a lot of pico de gallo in our future!

Cilantro Cheddar Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablesppon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/3 cups fresh cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Blend cold butter into dry ingredients (I use my hands, but you could use a fork or pastry cutter) until mixutre has pea sized chunks of butter. Don't over blend my friends!

Pour buttermilk and stir as little as possible just until the dough comes together with a wooden spoon. Add cheese, garlic and cilantro and mix in (again, stir as little as possible).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop about 1/3 cup of mix onto baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each biscuit.

Bake 18-20 minutes until tops and bottoms are golden brown. Serve fresh out of the oven and enjoy!

Baked Doughnuts!

Oh my goodness, when I found these on Tasty Kitchen the other day I was so excited! Doughnuts that are baked?!?!

Ok, so they didn't really come out with the texture of what I would consider to qualify as a doughnut, but they were darned delicious! They were more...like a bagel maybe? Who cares! Not when you have chocolate and coffee and cinnamon and sugar involved.

Baked Chocolate Donuts with Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Slightly adapted from Apricosa

2/3 cup warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt or Kosher Salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

1 Tbs. butter
Scant 1/3 cup 2% milk
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Heat milk on stove until it reaches 95 to 105 degrees. Measure 1/3 cup of milk and place in a warmed mixer bowl. Add yeast and let set 5 minutes until yeast bubbles. If your yeast does not activate, toss and start again. Put butter in remaining 1/3 cup of milk and melt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, flour and salt.

Back to your mixer bowl with the yeast in it, add the dry ingredients, the milk with melted butter, vanilla extract and lightly beaten egg and mix with your paddle attachment until it is just combined. Then change the attachment to the dough hook and mix until dough pulls away from side of bowl, adding a touch more flour or milk if the mix is to dry or wet. It should just be slightly tacky to the touch, but still clean away from the sides of your mixer bowl.

Remove dough and place in a greased bowl (turning dough so the top is greased) and allow to raise until doubled in a warm draft free place. I usually turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn oven off and place my dough in oven until raised.

Punch dough down and roll out to 1/2" thickness on a floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter cut out circles, then cut out centers using the milk jug cover and transfer rings and holes to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Loosely cover with Saran Wrap.

Allow to raise again about 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake about 8 to 10 minutes. Let doughnut slightly cool before dipping in ganache.

To make ganache:

Place butter and milk in a small saucepan and whisk constantly just until mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Continue to whisk until all chocolate has melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy.

Invert each doughnut and dip into chocolate ganache and place on a wire rack so that ganache drips down sides of doughnut.

Enjoy!!



Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Slightly adapted from Apricosa

2/3 cup warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbs. butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Heat milk on stove until it reaches 95 to 105 degrees. Remove 1/3 cup of milk and place in warmed mixer bowl. Stir in yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. If your yeast does not bubble up or foam, discard and start again.

Stir butter into remaining milk and melt. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt.

Heading back to the mixing bowl with milk and yeast, add in milk and butter mixture, dry ingredients, and egg and mix with your paddle attachment just until combined. Then replace attachment with your dough hook and mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding a touch more milk or flour if needed.

Remove dough and place in a greased bowl (turning dough so the top is greased) and allow to raise until doubled in a warm draft free place. I usually turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn oven off and place my dough in oven until raised.

Punch dough down and roll out to 1/2" thickness on a floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter cut out circles, then cut out centers using the milk jug cover and transfer rings and holes to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Loosely cover with Saran Wrap.

Allow to raise again about 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake about 8 to 10 minutes until they just barely take on a golden color. Do not overbrown the doughnuts because we want them nice and moist on the inside.

Melt 1 stick butter in a small sauce pan and mix cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl. After doughnuts have slightly cooled, dip tops of doughnuts in butter then in sugar mixture and place on wire rack. After you've done all the doughnuts, go back through and dip bottoms in butter followed by sugar mixture.

Enjoy!!

Cream Cheese with Honey and Candied Pecans

Remember the graduation party I was doing all the baking for? It was on Saturday. I prepared breads, cupcakes, cookies and other confections, potato salad, Bacon and Ranch Pasta salad, fruit bowls and a few other things. I had to call for another driver to come pick up goodies because it didn't all fit into my car.

My friend's youngest child now has a diploma and is currently going at the speed of fast forward getting ready for his impending move to join the collegiate ranks at UND in the fall. Wow! When I first met them he wasn't even in junior high yet!

Speaking of little boys growing up too fast...look at Walnut in his tie. He woke up that morning and was so excited to dress like daddy. He was actually the one that picked out the tie! And he wore it all day too.

We had so much fun celebrating with friends. Laughing, eating and reminiscing the days when we were young and getting into trouble as teenagers. Those days seem like they shouldn't be that long ago, but this summer is my 10 year high school reunion already! 10 YEARS!

Here is a delisous spread I served with the sweet quick breads at the party. It was so good, my favorite was the spread on the pumpkin bread.

Cream Cheese with Honey and Candied Pecans

1 - 8 oz package cream cheese

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Melt butter in a skillet and brown slightly over medium heat. Add pecans and brown sugar and stir to coat the pecans with butter and sugar. Let cook about 3-5 minutes until sugar has melted and sauce is bubbly. Transfer pecans and sauce from pan onto a plate lined with parchment paper and set aside to let sugar and harden around the pecans.

In a bowl, add cream cheese and honey and whip with a hand mixer. Add pecans (you might have to break them up a bit) and mix just for about 10-15 seconds to break up the pecans a bit more and get them incorporated into the cream cheese mixture.

Spread on your favorite breads, bagels, french toast...whatever!

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Bread

Sorry about the plethora of quick breads lately, but as I said earlier, I'm baking for an upcoming graduation party. And, during the summer months when I have a lot of overnight visitors it is really nice to pull a fruit loaf out of the freezer to serve for breakfast. I like freezing the loafs before eating them too because they seem so moist after they've thawed.

Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5x3" loaf pans with a baking spray (I use Baker's Joy).

In mixer bowl, cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Then add eggs, pumpkin and water and mix until incorporated. Then, blend in flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves.

Pour into pans and bake about 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread

My Peanut's favorite snack in the whole world is a bowl full of frozen blueberries. And it is so cute watching her eat them. After each blueberry, she has to stop and examine her hands as they begin to turn bright blue. When she is done eating her bowl, she looks like a smurf. She usually has blueberry juice smeared across her entire body, along with the counter top and whatever happens to be surrounding her! The day I made this great muffin bread I think she probably ate half the bag...leaving me a little short for my recipe. But, all is well when my kids decide to dive head first into fruits or veggies instead of chips or candy!



Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread

3 cups less 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 heaping cup plain low fat yogurt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
raw sugar

preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla, egg and yogurt until well blended. Add dry ingredients and stir just enough to incorporate the dry into the wet ingredients...about 10-15 stirs. Add 1 1/2 cups blueberries and stir as little as possible.

Spray two 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" bread pans with baking spray (I use Pam Baking Spray). Divide batter between the two tins and sprinkle tops with remaining blueberries and raw sugar.

Bake 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean.

Enjoy!

*If you pay close attention to the first pic you'll see that clearly I used two 9"x5" pans...however, my bread was not as tall as I usually like them so the smaller pans would definately be a plus.

Banana Bread

Homemade Mother's Day cards...I don't think that any part of being a mother is as satisfying as receiving one of these. A card you know your little four year old must have spent hours drawing. Look at his printing! "Mom, I love you." Oh, it melts my heart just looking at the pictures of it let alone holding the actual card in my hands. How he so carefully drew on the clothes and hair and eyes of each of us is just out of this world.

And look at these little hands. I love to hold these little hands as they fall asleep at night. They snuggle with me in the rocking chair and I always hold each of their hands until they drift off to sleep. They are still so little and precious but so big at the same time. I can't believe how the years are already slipping away from me it feels like sometimes. Walnut is on the verge of School Readiness and riding the school bus and Peanut is on the brink of potty training.

I'd like to say thank you to my mom...for raising me the way you did. For helping me become a strong, independent woman. And for always standing by me and supporting every silly thing that has ever popped into my head. I love you. And...thank you for watching my children everyday while I go to work and helping instill the same values in them as you did into me.

What feels more motherly then baking a big loaf of banana bread at 6:00 am before the troops wake up? I had been using a different recipe for my bread that uses shortening for the fat, but I lost the book somehow and had to resort to my good old Betty Crocker's Cookbook via 1972. It used to be my mom's book. She let me borrow it for an extended period of time...(mom...you didn't want this back, right?) This bread is so much more moist than my old recipe! Betty Crocker has definitely moved into the lead for now on when it comes to banana bread.

Banana Bread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3 medium)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (I use Baker's Joy) a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan or two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans. Measure all ingredients into a large mixer bowl; beat on medium 30 seconds until ingredients are just combined, scraping sides of the bowl half way through.

Pour into pans. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool thoroughly before slicing, unless your like me and insist on eating all baked good straight from the oven!

*I used a 9x5x3 inch pan and it made one heck of a large loaf! I will definitely split the batter into two pans next time.

English Muffins

First off, thanks to my first (and only follower at this point) Megan, from Food and Whine. Thank you for your lovely comments and also for posting this Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin recipe. I made them the with the cinnamon and raisin on Wednesday night and they were so good I made a regular batch on Thursday night so I could make my own egg muffins with them. I absolutely love how light and chewy they are (at least mine were).

Had I ever known how easy english muffins were to make I wouldn't have ever paid over $3.00 for six of them at the grocery store! And...I didn't knew they cooked on an electric fry pan either. Boy, I really must be living a sheltered life.

Semi Whole-Wheat English Muffins

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
.25 ounce package of active yeast

1 cup whole wheat flour
4-5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
cornmeal

Heat milk in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes so it is hot enough to melt the butter. Add honey, butter, and salt to milk and set aside until milk is lukewarm.

In a warmed mixer bowl (do this by running bowl under hot tap water) add water and yeast until yeast forms a foam over top of water (about 5 minutes should do it). In a separate bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour and sugar. Add to your yeast/water in the mixing bowl and turn mixer on low (speed 2 for a KitchenAid) using the dough hook. Let mix in for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour slowly, 1 cup at a time. Once all flour is incorporated, mix for an additional 2 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning dough over so top is greased. Cover and put in a warm place to double in size for about 1 hour (I always turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn off oven and place dough inside oven). Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll dough out on a very lightly floured surface to about 1/2" thick. Cut out circles depending on how large you want your muffins. First I used a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter and those turned out too small so on my second batch I used a cup that had about a 3 1/2" diameter and these were prefect for my eggs and turkey the next morning.

Place about 1/2 cup cornmeal in a soup bowl. Lightly press both side of english muffin in cornmeal and place on baking sheet. Let muffins rise until doubled again, about 45 minutes.

Cook muffin on a very lightly greased (I gave it a very quick spray with Pam) electric fry pan at 275-300 degrees for 7-10 minutes on each side. They cook quickly so make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn. While the muffins are still warm...poke holes all the way around the middle of the muffin so they easily pull apart.

Enjoy!

Foccacia Bread

Pizza crust is incredibly versatile isn't it? It can be made ahead and stored in the fridge until you're ready to use it. It can be made into bread sticks, pizza, foccacia, dessert pizza...I've even used it for money bread because I like how light and airy this recipe is.

Tomato Basil Foccacia Bread

For the pizza dough:
1 package yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp yeast if you buy the jar)
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour
1 tbls corn meal

For Foccacia Toppings:
1 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried or fresh basil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
5 or 6 thin slices of tomato

Dissolve water, yeast and sugar in warmed mixing bowl (warm bowl by running hot water over bowl). Let sit for a few minutes until the yeast forms a nice froth over top of water. Using the dough hook on your mixer, add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups of flour into bowl with the yeast and mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes.

Add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time for 2 minutes until dough pulls away from side of bowl. Mix an additional 2 minutes, still at speed 2. (You will have 6 minutes total mixing time.)

Put dough in an oiled bowl, turning dough so that oiled side is up so your dough doesn't dry out and form a crust. I always place plastic wrap loose on the top of dough then cover with a towel. Let set in a warm, draft free place for about an hour until dough has doubled. (I usually turn oven on at 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn oven off and put in my bread. It seems to speed the process up without cooking the dough. Just don't forget to turn the oven off after 2 minutes!)


Oil a 9" round cake pan and sprinkle with corn meal. Press dough in pan to edges and press your knuckles into the dough to form divots. Brush olive oil on top of dough and add tomatoes, then sprinkle basil and salt. Cover with towel and allow to raise a bit to desired height depending on what you are doing with your loaf. For sandwiches, which I made with this particular loaf, I allowed to the dough to double.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Check back tomorrow for my most favorite grilled foccacia sandwich! Enjoy!

Citrus Honey Butter

My kids are testing me this week...that is for sure. The "boundary line" is being pulled, stretched, twisted and torn. While it makes my heart sing that Walnut is finally gaining some independence from mom and doing such things as getting dressed by himself, buckling his seat belt by himself, fully participating and listening in swim lessons and putting on his own shoes...he is trying to push it as far as he can it seems. Saturday morning it was just me and the kids at home and I had to jump in the shower, which I've scientifically narrowed down to a measly 7 minutes since becoming a mom, Walnut decided that him and Peanut wanted to play outside. So, being the big kid he is now, he got his coat and shoes on, his sister's coat on her along with Grandma's boots. Just as I was turning off the shower I heard the outside door slam! So, knowing full well what he must have been up to I went flying down the stairs and outside just wrapped in a towel screaming and ushering the children back into the house telling Walnut every scary story I could think of that could happen to him had he gone outside unaccompanied by an adult.
Oh, and this is just the start of the weekend. On Sunday he was riding his bike outside and Dad's car was parked in the driveway. Well, the car happened to be in his way so as I rounded the corner from the other side of the house I see Aden jumping into the driver's seat and closing the door as if he was going to move the car himself! Ah! What are my children thinking? I think they are trying to give me a heart attack is what I think.
And on Monday, after a long day of work, a 5 mile jog and running across half the state to shuttle Walnut to ECFE and then pick Peanut up from Grandma's afterward I was finally home at 8:45 pm ready to drop into bed, only to discover Peanut was also discovering a sort of independence of her own...as in using the living room as her canvas! She colored the sofa, end table, tv, tv stand, picture frames and my dumb bells. I have no clue what type of marker she used either. So when I inquired what exactly my husband was doing during her little artistic episode he informed me he was in the shower and was so busy he didn't have time to clean it up. And that she also colored herself from head to toe. Upon further examination...she was indeed colored from head to toe, but it appears Grandma had attempted to scrub off what she could.

So, on days like these, I need something sweet, savory and fulfilling to give me the will to start over the next day! Stir together these three ingredients together and jump in the shower and by the time your done all the flavors have infused and you again will have a purpose in life...to spread this delicious butter on everything from pancakes to biscuits to whatever you have in your kitchen!


Citrus Honey Butter

1 stick butter, room temp
1/3 cup honey
zest from 2 oranges

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl and let set for 30 minutes before enjoying!

Biscuits
Recipe by The Pioneer Woman

4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/3 c shortening
1/3 c cold butter, cut into pieces
1 ¼ c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together.
Add the shortening and cold butter pieces and cut together with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in buttermilk and mix gently with a fork until just combined.
The biscuit dough will be sticky.
Lightly flour a clean surface and roll dough out to about ¾ to 1 inch thick.
Cut into any shape and bake 11 – 14 minutes until golden brown.